Chord Symbols

santucci218 · #1 10-07-2007, 10:50 AM

my music teacher went to berklee i think and he uses their symbols they made up there, and i cant find on the internet what they mean to do my assignment...i know the m with a line over it is minor. and i assume a regular m is major....is triangle augmented? and a circle is diminished?

DocBop · #2 10-07-2007, 11:07 AM

A dash - , m , or mi is minor. The Major is usually upper case M or Ma or the triangle is Major 7. Circle is diminished, but a circle with a slashed thru it is a minor7 b5.

Chord symbols are another thing that is regional. Like sometimes a 7 with a slash thru is is symbol for Ma7 chord. You just have to learn them as you see them, East Coast, West Coast, European, and traditional they all have their variations.

santucci218 · #3 10-07-2007, 11:18 AM

always saving my *** docbop. thank you much man

HaVIC5 · #4 10-07-2007, 02:08 PM

I go to Berklee, and I know that although they've created their own sort of standardized system for theory, they haven't done anything new with chord symbols, the basic ones that is. One thing that IS codified here is nomenclature for extended harmony involving 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths. Elsewhere its common to see chord symbols like E9 and Bbm11 and things like that. Here, its eschewed in favor of the more specific tension naming system where you we call those chords E7(9), Bbm7(11). This is done for both a theoretical reason and a practical reason. The practical reason is the simplest - it gives you greatest control over what tensions to notate. What if you want a 7 chord voiced with a 13, #11, but no 9? The other way doesn't have any clean way of doing that. The theoretical reason is that the tensions have no functional relationship to the key, they simply are controlled harmonic dissonances that serve to color the chord rather than alter its function. Eg, there is a functional difference between a 7 chord and a minor 7 chord, but none between a 7 chord and a 7 chord with tensions 9 and 13 on top of it - they're just there to add spice.

santucci218 · #5 10-07-2007, 10:51 PM

ty for the info man. cool idea.

ryco · #6 10-08-2007, 09:12 PM

..and a + sign designates a chord as augmented = R M3 A5.

EDIT: exception: Every once in a while I run across a chord marked "+4" (ie C+4). In this case the 5th remains Perfect and the 4th is raised a half step to become augmented = R M3 A4.